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ANNOTATED GAME
Challenge from andra
andra (1231) vs. markpinkston (1403)
Annotated by: markpinkston (1611)
Chess opening: Ponziani (C44), Caro variation
andra (1231) vs. markpinkston (1403)
Annotated by: markpinkston (1611)
Chess opening: Ponziani (C44), Caro variation
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1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 |
Ponziani's Opening is not seen very often, although it isn't bad if white doesn't mind letting black equalize easily. | |||||
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3... d5 |
Not knowing the theory offhand, I came up with the less common of the two main lines. According to MCO-13 the more common main line would be 3...Nf6. | |||||
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4. exd5 |
And here we go out of book. The main line is 4. Qa4 and there is a sideline starting with 4. Bb5. The problem with the text move is that black has already achieved his strategic opening goal. In an e4 opening, black is trying to get in d5 to attack white's center and liquidate the e4 pawn. On move 4, black has already equalized. | |||||
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4... Qxd5 5. d3 |
And it is now black that has the better center pawn (on the 4th rank, while white's center pawn is on the 3rd). I will try to exploit this space advantage, while avoiding trades that will ease white's cramped position. | |||||
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5... Bg4 |
Preparing to castle long. | |||||
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6. Be2 |
Preparing to castle short and breaking the pin. | |||||
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6... O-O-O |
Threatening to either win a pawn or wreck white's kingside pawns with 7...Bxf3. White's choices would be: A) 8. gxf3 and white isn't going to want to castle kingside anymore B) 8. Bxf3 Qxd3 and black wins a pawn | |||||
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7. Nh4 |
Avoiding the previous lines, but putting the knight out of play. White does offer to trade his bad bishop for black's good bishop. And trades will lessen the value of black's space advantage. | |||||
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7... Bxe2 |
Nevertheless I trade, expecting white will not want to drop the pawn and will recapture with the king. White can still castle by hand after that, but it takes time, and time is precious in a semi-open opening. | |||||
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8. Qxe2 |
And quite surprisingly, white sacrifices the d pawn. I don't see much compensation for it, but I'm sure white had some reason for doing it. | |||||
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8... Qxd3 9. Qg4+ |
Avoiding the queen trade, but this gives my king the tempo he needs to get to b8. He would have had to get there sooner or later anyway. | |||||
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9... Kb8 10. Be3 |
As white cannot castle due to the black queen's control of the f1 square, white continues with development of the queenside. | |||||
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10... h5 |
I notice that if the white queen leaves the h5-d1 diagonal, I have mate with ...Qd1#. So this pawn move is an attempt to take away squares on that diagonal from the queen. | |||||
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11. Qe2 |
And the white queen finds a safe square that continues to defend the mate. | |||||
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11... Be7 |
I don't want to initiate a queen trade, when his king recapture would help the h1 rook develop, so I develop a piece of my own. Notice that white still cannot castle kingside, as that would hang the queen. | |||||
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12. Qxd3 |
So white initiates the trade. | |||||
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12... Rxd3 13. Nf5 |
Getting the knight back into the game, but I think white would have been better to continue developing with either Nd2, O-O, or even Ke2. Now that the queens are off, it is not as important to castle. There is still plenty of firepower on the board, but if a pair of rooks go away, the centralized white king will be better in the coming endgame than my king over in the corner. | |||||
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13... g6 |
I don't fear Nxe7, as ...Ngxe7 will complete my development and allow me to double rooks on the d file. True the pawn structure favors bishops over knights, but sometimes you have to accept a trade-off. I would rather lose my bishop and activate my rooks to take advantage of my extra pawn. | |||||
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14. Nxe7 |
And white no doubt thinks his bishop will be superior to my minor pieces in the endgame. | |||||
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14... Ngxe7 15. Nd2 |
Continuing to develop. | |||||
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